Pretty things

There is a lot flowering in the Biodiversity Garden - a last splash of bright colour before the heat of summer really kicks in, and the garden will revert to a simple palette of greys and greens. By January flowers give way to foliage, and texture will reign supreme.

Below, photographed on the 2nd Nov, a chinkerinchee (Ornithogalum thyrsoides) - still fresh in bud and sparkly white.



And below: three weeks later, with long flower stalks, old papery flowers encasing swelling seed capsules. A caracal slinking through.



The Lighthouse Walkway is looking especially cheerful, with Cotyledon orbiculata in full bloom, as well as Pelargonium betulinum (pink), Pelargonium cucculatum (magenta) and Gnidia squarrosa (pale yellow), all in bloom.



In the wetland Watsonia angusta is making splashes of bright red against the grey of Plecostachys serpyllaceae and restios - a favourite combination which I spotted in the Harold Porter Garden and recreated here.



Bright pink Orphium frutescens is right on schedule: November is prime time. I love the juxtaposition of plant diversity with the skyline of surrounding appartments and cityscapes.


Orphium is buzz pollinated: each twisted yellow anthers has a small hole (pore) at the top. Carpenter bees visit and grab hold of the anthers, buzzing vigorously - this shakes out the pollen onto their bodies, thereby effecting pollination.



Update on the amazing race: The dome is starting to get a green 'skirt' of climbers growing up the mesh. Dipogon lignosus (boslimop) still in the lead.


In the 'Cape biodiversity goes International' display the various hybrids are in full swing. Diascia, Gazania, Agapanthus - it's hot there.